Visa and Mastercard have offered to trim the fees merchants pay on card payments by tourists in the European Union in an attempt to stave off possible fines after a long-running antitrust investigation, people familiar with the matter said.

President Vladimir Putin said today (27 March) that Russia would develop its own credit card system, in order to reduce reliance on Western payment card companies Visa and MasterCard and soften the potential blow from EU, US sanctions.